


Not Broken, Different

by alinal



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Autism, Autistic Zuko (Avatar), Don't Examine This Too Closely, Everyone Is Gay, Gen, Heavy Angst, How Do I Tag, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, My First Fanfic, Nonbinary Character, Slurs, Trans, Trans Character, Trans Zuko (Avatar), Zuko is an Awkward Turtleduck
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-19
Updated: 2020-09-21
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:22:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,806
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26535769
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alinal/pseuds/alinal
Summary: Zuko melts down, finds out they're autistic, aang is autistic, also comes out as gay, also also is trans (non-binary) also also also Toph is a trans girl, Toph deals with transphobes with violence.
Relationships: Sokka & Zuko (Avatar), Sokka/Zuko (Avatar), Toph Beifong & Zuko
Comments: 20
Kudos: 196





	1. Meltdown

**Author's Note:**

> WARNING: this deals with some heavy stuff. Zuko has a lot of internalized homophobia, transphobia, and ableism, and they struggle with it. please please leave a kudo or a comment, this is my first work and i need the validation. i wrote this in two hours from midnight to two am so make of that what you will. don't examine this to hard, i have no idea how it fits into canon either. characterization might be fucked up? idk? i overused italics, but for a good purpose. I'm autistic and trans so i promise this isn't ableist or anything.

Zuko was panicking, again. He (But that wasn’t exactly right, was it?) collapsed on the floor of a closet behind the counter at the Jasmine Dragon, breathing hard. His () mind was a hurricane. Sokka knows. Sokka knows and he was going to tell Uncle and then Uncle would reject him and he’d be homeless again and maybe they’d start hitting him like his father had and he’d have more scars, more marks of his failure and it was all because he was broken. Because he was messed up and thought of boys when he should think of girls, because he was a pervert and a-a-a fag

Someone was knocking at the door, but Zuko couldn’t tell them to go away, not when he was like this. His voice would be so deep, and it would sound just like his father and he couldn’t deal with that.

“Zuko? Are you okay, man?” Zuko cringed. He sounded kind now, but so had his father. So had Azula. So had Jet, before he had- No, can’t think about that. Too embarrassing. But he had deserved it, anyway. For being a sodomite, a faggot, a homo, a queer.

Sokka interrupted his spiral. “Zuko? Buddy? I’m coming in” He pushed open the door, and Zuko cringed at the noise. He’s run in here after his sister teased him and his father’s coming in. “You’re too sensitive Zuko” “Be more like your sister Zuko’ “Be a man Zuko” “Come here Zuko” His father lears at him, smiling in that way that always means trouble, means Zuko will have to cover up more bruises

“Zuko? What’s wrong? Is it something I said?” Zuko couldn’t breath, couldn’t talk.

“I’m fine,” he said, but in his desperation to get the words out it came out strangled and shouting, a contradiction of despair.

“You’re really not, buddy. I know a panic attack when I see one.”

“Panic attack when I see one?” He didn’t know why he got like this, only able to repeat things. He hadn’t done it in a while, had had that tendency forced out of him.

“Are you repeating me? Aang does this sometimes, if you are”

“Are you repeating me?” Are you repeating me are you repeating me are you repeating meareyourepeatingme, he wants to say, but he pinches his lips and shuts it in.

“Zuko, I can't help you if you don't talk”

And here it is. Sokka sounds angry and mean and Zuko can’t rock fast enough to shut off all the thoughts in his brain and he starts slamming his fist into his stomach, the action painful but relaxing. He can’t stop, won’t stop, until Sokka goes away and he can forget he ever slipped up and risked his Uncle. And for what? A stupid conversation?  
Sokka slowly moves closer, reaching out a hand. Zuko knows, intellectually, Sokka would never hurt him. Call him slurs, maybe, but he deserves that. And are they really slurs if they’re true? But he flashes back to his father reaching for him, his hand alit, and flinches back violently, hitting his back on a shelf.

Sokka closed his big, callused, warm hand over Zuko's pale, fisted one. “Stop Zuko. Don’t hurt yourself. Do you have an item that makes you feel safe or comforted? That’s what Aang wants when he gets.. Like this.”

Zuko only stared at him, unable to communicate. He did have a little turtle-duck toy that he couldn’t sleep without, but there was no way he was going to be able to communicate it’s hiding place while unable to speak. Even Uncle didn’t know he had it, and there was no way he was going to talk to Uncle anyway. “Aang wants,” he mumbled.

“Okay, different strategy, Zuko. Can you take deep breaths? With me?” Sokka started to count, inhaling and exhaling steadily. Zuko tried, but the noise from the cafe outside and Sokka’s heavy breathing and his thoughts were just too overwhelming. He slammed his hands over his ears, rocking back and forth despite his head slamming into a shelf.

Sokka was muttering to himself. “I don’t know what to do. This doesn’t seem like a normal panic attack, at least not the ones I have, and Katara always helps Aang. I’m going to go get Uncle” It was news to Zuko that Sokka got panic attacks, but no matter what, he couldn't get Uncle. There was no way Uncle was going to take this well. Right?

He tried to call out, to protest, but nothing came out of his mouth except labored breathing, which grated on his ears. He couldn't take his hands off his ears, so he sat by and watched as Sokka brought his world down on him.

Even through his palms he could hear Uncle yelling. He knew it was rejection, even though he couldn't make out the exact words.

The door slammed open, and he cowered at the noise and the light and the overwhelming world. He could hear, but not process, Uncle and Sokka talking. It was too loud and he wanted to ask them to quiet down before he exploded but he couldn't form the words.

Uncle was talking now, something about Zuko being okay and safe, but the words were like fireworks against his brain and he wouldn't be safe much longer, not once Uncle knew what had triggered this. Sokka was leaving, Zuko thought to get Katara? Or maybe Aang? Zuko knew they weren't far, they had been at the shop next door.

He didn't know how long it had been when Sokka came back with Aang and Katara and Toph, all crammed in the tiny closet and all overwhelming him even more. Aang gasped when he saw Zuko, cowering in the corner, still rocking and flapping and muttering, still banging his head, although now Uncle was cushioning it with his hand.

"He's having a meltdown. Everyone shut the fuck up and get out of here. Aang, you can stay, I might need you." Katara immediately started talking, but thankfully she whispered.

"A what? How could I not have noticed this!" Uncle was so loud. Zuko rocked harder. Aang removed his cloak, shushing Uncle and pushing him out along with Sokka and Toph. He folded up the cloak and pulled Zuko away from the wall, cushioning his head and covering his eyes with the cloak.

In the darkness Zuko immediately felt calmer. Aang and Katara were quietly conversing.

"I didn't know he was autistic?"

"Look, Aang, our job is just to help. Be quiet and help me. Go outside and ask Uncle if Zuko has a comfort item. Like your sky bison toy? If so, bring it to me."

Zuko was surprised to find his voice had returned, if only for a moment. "Under… bed" He was muttering again, saying "bring it to me" over and over.

"Aang, you hear that? Look under his bed."

Katara rubbed circles on Zuko's back, but stopped when he flinched away. It reminded him of Jet, but unlike Jet Katara stopped when he was uncomfortable.

"I'm sorry, Zuko, I respect your boundaries"

"Sorry Zuko sorry Zuko sorry Zuko" Zuko cringed, knowing he sounded weird and stupid and like a sissy. To his surprise, however, Katara didn't give him an odd look, or flinch away, or yell. He remembered Sokka saying Aang sometimes got 'like this'. Maybe in the water tribes there were lots of people like him. Or like part of him, at least. The only people who shared his attractions were criminals, or dead.

Aang opened the door slowly, holding Zuko's turtle-duck. Katara grabbed it from him then shoved him out. Clearly she understood how overwhelmed he was. She placed the toy in his lap, then removed… something made of wood and metal from her pocket. She unfolded it to reveal it as a pair of discs on a headband.

"They're to block out sound. Here" she left them on his lap and left, shutting the door behind her. Zuko was glad it didn't have a lock.

The device worked even better than his hands, and left them free to pet his toy. In the dark, with no noise and with the turtle-ducks soft fur and the feeling of his rocking, he began to calm down. Maybe Uncle would hate him, but he could lie or run away. He had lots of practice at both. He didn't mind, really, taking a wife as long as she understood he could never, ever, as long as he lived, do that with her. He didn't even think he could do that with a boy, not after everything.

But at least it would be over soon. Uncle would never hurt him, no matter what his panicky thoughts had been. He'd just be alone again, and he'd survived the first time, right?

Zuko felt the stiff leather of his toys beak, and wondered about Sokka and his panic attacks, and why Katara had the ear-coverings. He didn't want to go back out to the cafe, not yet, but at least it was because he was overwhelmed by the impending rejection, not by the noise.

And he hadn't even had to think about… The other thing. The thing where sometimes he looked at his reflection and hated it, or heard his voice and thought it was all wrong.

He relentlessly scripted the upcoming conversation in his head then, gathering Aang's cloak tightly around him (the pressure keeping him calm) opened the closet door and walked to his and Uncle's apartment where everyone was waiting.


	2. Converstions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey y'all I realized how short these are. The whole story is going to be the length of a one-shot, but because of the way it panned out, it's going to be split into 3 (maybe 4) chapters. It makes more sense that way. Same warnings for this one as the last one. Nb Zuko may not be a headcanon that makes sense, but I love nb rep so y'all are going to have to deal with it. <3

Zuko paused outside the door to the small eating area, his tear stained eyes squeezed tightly shut. He removed the noise-blockers, knowing it was quieter up here, and listened carefully to the voices inside. Uncle was the first he heard.

"So Prince Zuko is…"

"Autistic." Sokka's voice filled in the missing word.

"Right. And that means he sometimes feels too overwhelmed, and if that gets too bad he…"

"Melts down, sorta like panicking. And getting overwhelmed is only one part of being autistic. For me, I also repeat what people say when I'm feeling stressed. It sounds like Zuko does this too, which is super cool. It's just a way of communicating. Another part is special interests, like something you love a lot and want to spend all your time researching. I often get 'lost' in learning about cooking, for example! It's varied for everyone really. A third part is stimming, or like a tic, but extra. It's really important to our mental health. I don't do it so much, but looking back over seeing Zuko, he seems like a big stimmer. When he flaps his hands, or rocks, or intertwines his fingers, he's stimming. As long as it's not hurting him or others, you should let him do it." Zuko could hear the passion in Aang's voice.

"I don't understand what triggered it though. He's always been fine in the shop before."

Katara answered this one. "We think he had a panic attack, which devolved into a meltdown."

"Specifically, when Boomerang here barged in and started yelling at him." Zuko flinched at Toph's raised voice.

"Hey! I didn't know what to do. You know I'm lousy if it's not a straight panic attack, and this one was definitely not straight" Sokka smiled like he was making an inside joke. Zuko didn’t understand why.

"Back on topic though. What could have triggered Prince Zuko's panic attack?"

"We-l-l, that's a long conversation. Do you know what-" Zuko chose that moment to enter, even terrified still retaining his royal grace.

"Prince Zuko! How are you!" Uncle was loud, too loud, but luckily Sokka shushed him. Zuko wrapped the cloak over his ears to block out anything too loud. He rubbed the turtle-duck, repeating Prince Zuko over and over. He knew he looked stupid, but he was going to be out of here soon anyway. 

"Uncle Iroh? Sir? He might be non-verbal right now, which means he might not be able to talk. Do you have some paper?" Aang, thankfully, recognized Zuko's repeating for what it was.

"Yes. Toph, why don't you get some from the drawer over there." Toph traveled out of Zuko's restricted line of vision and returned with some old one-sided documents and a pen.

"Zuko? I'm really sorry I didn't help you better. I feel bad about that. And I'd like you to know, no one here thinks you're stupid or childlike. You can tell us what happened, we're not going to judge." 

Zuko doubted that. He wrote, in his hand formed by many years of tutoring, "Thank you Sokka. The teashop is often too loud anyway."

"Prince Zuko! You could have told me!" 

"Sorry Uncle. I didn't want to be trouble." He holds it up for everyone to see.

"You being feeling unsafe is trouble to me, nephew." Zuko wrote nothing.

"Zuko, we think you're autistic. That is, Aang and I. Aang is autistic too, and I help him a lot. Do you like those headphones?" Headphones. So that's what they are. 

"Yes"

"You can keep them then."

"Thank you Katara."

"Do you know what autistic means?" He used to think it meant broken, but now he's not so sure.

"I think I do"

"Okay. If you have any questions, just ask any of us, kay? We all have experience with lots of different people. However, we want to set some rules if this happens again. What do you need us to do if we're here while you're melting down?"

"Be quiet. And give me my ducky and a blanket and the headphones." He's too tired, all of a sudden, to be scared. It's been a long day and he just wants a hug. "And don't touch my face or my thighs ever" Zuko knows he sounds like a baby, but they need to know.

"Okay. That's okay. Do you want to tell us why?" Katara knows exactly what to say to put him at ease, but he knows the main event is still coming.

"Flashbacks. My father and… somebody" Zuko's mumbling again, it's starting to be too much. Knowing now that at least everyone in the room is okay with his … autism (the word seems funny in his mind) if not his attractions, he squeezes his eyes shut and rocks. It's funny, now, to do the very thing his father tried to remove from him. Uncle's more a father then Father ever was, and maybe that's why he's more at comfort here in this tiny room then ever before.

"Oh Zuko, that sucks dude. I hope we can help you?" Zuko likes how Sokka isn't too serious, even now, but he doesn't think anyone will be able to help him.

"Maybe" he writes uncommittedly.

"Prince Zuko, why did you never tell me anything? This can't be the first time you've melted down."

"Because. My Father didn't like it" he thinks about explaining further, but seeing as he's about to bare his deepest darkest secret, he thinks he'd better save some secrets.

But it didn't seem like it worked, because the whole room gasps as one when Zuko holds up the paper. Uncle has tears in his eyes and holds his arms up, beckoning Zuko for a hug. Even Toph looks teary, perhaps recalling her own parents. Zuko goes to Uncle, positioning himself so the cloak stays on. He's never felt comfortable being hugged by anyone other than Uncle, but Uncle's hugs make him very happy.

After a couple minutes, Sokka sighs and asks if they can move on to the next question, but his voice reveals the emotion he's really feeling.

"Okay. Next order of business on "question fire boy" is what caused the panic attack. Lay it all bare, hotman," Toph says. Zuko says nothing, and Sokka sighs again. But it’s not aggressive, and Zuko isn’t bothered by it, strangely.

"Zuko, do you want us to guess?" Zuko nods. He doesn’t want to have to explain himself. Maybe if they say it, it’ll be better. He starts bobbing his head and humming. It makes the anxiety better, he thinks, like it burns off some nervous energy.

"Fine. We have a suspicion. We were talking about the pretty girls in the corner, remember? And I asked why you were being quiet, and you said you just didn't understand the appeal of girls. And then you ran away." Here it comes. Zuko's prepared to run, if it goes really badly, but he hopes he'll just have to endure some verbal abuse and then get kicked out. He only realizes he's been subconsciously biting his fingernails when they bleed. He hides them under his leg.

"Zuko, have you ever wanted to kiss a girl?" This seems to be Sokka's area, like autism was Katara and Aang’s. He shakes his head furiously, slamming it repeatedly into the wall. Sokka walks behind him, making sure his hands stay in full view.

"Zuko, you can't hurt yourself. Can I hold your head to stop it from slamming the wall?" Zuko considers, then nods. If Sokka wants to hurt him, let him. He probably deserves it anyway. Sokka bumps his scar, and when he flinches, carefully moves his hands far away from it.

"Zuko, have you ever wanted to kiss a boy?" Zuko's surprised at how no one reacts, like this is normal. He feels his face heat up, his heart start beating faster, and his breath start sticking in his throat. He's amazed, however, that he's finally gotten his voice back. 

"I have occasionally thought of such perverted actions. Yes." He hides behind formal words, like he has so many times before.

Everyone starts at the sound of his voice, and then again at the admission. He's surprised, though, to find that they wear looks of pity, not fear or disgust.

"Zuko, is that the only way you know to describe y-that?" Sokka sounded so worried.

"To describe being a faggot?" Everyone gasps again.

"Zuko, pal, those are slurs. They are used to imply that someone is wrong or bad for liking people who are the same gender as them."

"Which is true." Everyone stares at him. "Right?"

"Prince Zuko. I may not have been as good about reeducating you as I should have been, but the way you were brought up by your father was not normal, especially for the other nations. When Fire Lord Sozin took over, he turned our country to one of bigotry and hate. But it has not always been that way."

"Those words you used, Zuko, are slurs. They were used by your father to make you feel like you were a sin, to make you easier to control. In nicer terms, you would be gay"

Zuko felt like he was breaking down. His whole secret, his hidden wrongness just didn't exist. He wasn't a homo or a queer, he was gay. He liked boys and that was fine.

"Uncle, are there other words?" Like maybe one for boys who don't really feel like boys but not like girls either.

Sokka cut in. "I'm bi! Short for bisexual. I like boys and girls. Katara's straight, or heterosexual, meaning she only likes boys. For a boy, that would mean he only likes girls."

"Straight. Not … Normal?" His voice cracks a bit.

"Nah, we're all normal. Even you. Toph's asexual, or ace, and aromantic, or aro. That means she doesn't like anyone. You would be gay, or homosexual! Aang's pan, which means he likes everyone! Regardless of gender."

"Isn't that the same as bi?"

"For me, I like girls and boys in different ways. Aang doesn't see gender. He just thinks about whether or not he likes them."

"Oh." So no labels about not girls and not boys. Zuko could feel tears stinging his eyes.. He had been through so much and he just wanted to sleep and think and have a hug. He yawned. "More tomorrow? Tired. Surprised I'm not dead" It was meant as a joke, but Sokka just looked sad for him.

"Was your dad really that bad?"

"Why do you think I only have one eye?"

"Oh! Oh. What the fuck? I didn't know that? That's why? That sick bastard burnt your eye? Why?"

"I can't talk about it. Goodnight." Zuko might have sounded colder than he meant to, but he didn't want to cry himself to sleep tonight any more than he had to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IT HAS COME TO MY ATTENTION MY ITALICS DISAPPEAR I APOLIGIZE IF IT'S REALLY HARD TO TELL THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ZUKO'S THOUGHTS AND THE NARRATION I DON'T KNOW HOW TO FIX IT


	3. Information

Zuko woke up to the sound of singing. Terrible singing. Loud singing. He began to feel the way he had so many times before, overwhelmed and  _ prickly. _ But this time he had a word for it. Not broken, autistic. He was still in shock from the previous night, still more vulnerable then he’d been in a long time.

He stumbled into the kitchen, exhausted. His sleep had been haunted with images of Jet, and he hadn’t slept tell way past midnight.

“Zuko! Fire guy!” Sokka was sipping tea, apparently having either stayed the night or walked over in the early morning. Zuko cringed at the nickname.  _ Not a guy. _

“Sokka. Why are you here?”

“I couldn’t bear to be away from your face for any longer then I needed to.” Zuko felt his heart skip a beat.  _ It’s just Sokka being Sokka. It means nothing.  _ “But seriously, I came here first thing in the morning. I need to talk to you some more, we didn’t get through all the labels last night.” Zuko felt a lump of hope form in his throat. 

“There’s, uh, there’s more?”

“I mean, there are plenty more attraction words, but you don’t need to know those right now. Today, we’re going to talk about gender.” The lump of hope grew to enormous proportions.  _ Maybe I’m not broken at all.  _ “Which is why I have brought Toph with me. She’s the expert here.”

Zuko looked around for Toph, just in time to see her popping up from her hiding place under the table. He shouted in surprise. “Toph what the  _ hell _ ? Why are you under there?”

“That’s for me to know and you to find out, fireboy. Anyway, the trans talk. Basically, sex is your body parts, male, female, or sometimes other, and gender is being a boy or a girl or sometimes other. And they’re not always the same. If they aren’t, like how I have the eternal curse of male body parts but my gender is fabulously female,” Here she paused to stare at Zuko. “If you give me hate for this I will fill your mouth with sand as you sleep.”

“No. No, it’s fine”  _ More than fine. You’re like me. _

“Good. I hope you’re not just saying that because I am not kidding. Anyway, if your sex doesn’t match your gender, you’re trans. Transgender. People can be binary trans, like having a male body and being female or having a female body and being male. Or they can be non-binary, which is when you’re not a girl or a boy or both or change between them. Gender can be kinda complicated, so just listen to what people tell you. People who’s gender matches their sex are cis, or cisgender. You are cis.”  _ Now or never. _

“I’m not. Not cis I mean.”

“What, you can’t seriously think it’s a slur? I swear to the spirits if you do I might have to kill you.”

“No I just don’t feel like a boy. Or a girl. And my body makes me mad sometimes and I hate it so much when you call me fireboy or hotman or flame dude or anything like that and I wish you would stop and I hate it.”

“Zuko…” Toph was speechless, for once in her life. Sokka had moved from his corner to stand next to Toph. Zuko was more than a bit intimidated.  _ What if I was wrong. What if it’s not okay. _

“Zuko. Thank you for telling us. That took a lot of courage. And honestly I could never imagine being as brave as that. Growing up with your father, and how scared you were to tell us you were gay, it’s really impressive of you to be ablle to tell us you’re queer like this.”  _ Queer.  _ The word hit like a ton of bricks, forcibly pulling Zuko back to their father and their childhood hiding and crying. It wasn’t okay. They had been lucky so far, but their luck had run out. Their legs gave out and they fell to the ground, breathing hard. Their father’s taunts echoed in their ears.

“Zuko? Fireg-sorry, firehuman- what’s wrong?”

Sokka gasped. “Oh no. I’m a  _ idiot.” _

“What?”

“I called hi-them queer. That’s still used as a slur. T-hey’re father probably called them that.”

“You  _ are _ an idiot. New kinda stupid right there watertribe. Well, you better fix it.” 

Zuko could feel Sokka’s hand grasping their shoulder. “Breath, Zuko. I didn’t mean that as a bad thing, and I’m sorry for assuming it’s okay. Lots of people in the community have reclaimed it and use it, but it’s okay for it to not be okay. We will always respect your gender, okay?” Sokka’s reassurances pulled Zuko out of their panic attack before it could begin, and they sat up.

“I’m sorry. My father called me that.”

Sokka nodded, his face grim. “That  _ bastard. _ I would murder him if he wasn’t already dead. Anyway, do you want us to use different pronouns? Or a different name?”

“That’s… an option?”

“Yup. You mentioned hating my nicknames, so I’ll come up with gender neutral ones, but we can call you they, like what do they want for dinner, or xe or ey or hir or really anything. There’s lots of different ones,” Toph said.

_ They. That sounds.. Right.  _ “They. Please. Thank you. And I want to keep Zuko. It’s been with me for a long time.”

“Superb. Awesome. Fantastic. Sorry, I’m not the best in these kinds of situations.” Sokka grimaced at himself.

“You’re better than I ever thought you would be.”

“So, sparky, you gonna tell Uncle?”

"Sparky?”

“Look, I don’t have a lot to work with here. Language is still so gendered.”

“No, I like it.”  _ It makes me feel happy. It’s a new feeling.  _ “I couldn’t stand to lose Uncle, so I don’t think I’ll tell him.”

“He might be more understanding than you think. I mean he understands me” Toph said.

“He doesn’t… know, though?”

“Of course he does. Have I ever been able to be subtle?”

“Oh. Do you think… you all could help me?” 

“Of course. We’ll be there for moral support whenever you need us,” said Sokka.

“Not right now. I need some time to prepare.”

“Right, I’m off. I have to go do...things. Important things. That involve leaving you two in a room together. Watertribe, flamemaster, kiss. Or don't I don't care.”

Zuko flushed, staring at Sokka. It might have been their imagination, but Sokka looked apprehensive, even worried. _Could he be more bothered by Toph's teasing then he let on?_

“Zuko, there’s one more thing." _Oh. He's going to question me._ "You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to, but I’m worried. Last night, you said we couldn’t touch your face or your thighs. Your face makes sense, with your absolute fuckface of a father, but I don’t understand your thighs. You said it was ‘somebody’. Zuko, have you ever been with anyone before? Obviously you don’t have to tell me, but I want to help.”

Zuko thought. They had nothing left to loose. Sokka hadn't started hating them yet, right? And maybe it would help to tell someone. “I’ve never told anyone this before.”

“Okay. I won’t tell anyone.”

“Before we met up with you, I was at a bar. Uncle had gone home to sleep, but I got drunk. There was a boy. He asked me if I wanted to find a room with him, but I thought he meant just to talk. I was very drunk. He dragged me upstairs, and he did things with me. Even when I asked him to stop. And that’s the bad memory. You don’t think I’m gross, do you?”

“Of course not. Him  _ raping  _ you is not your fault and I’m sorry it ever happened to you. That’s sick and perverted. I’m going to be extra careful to respect your boundaries. Thank you for telling me. And one more thing. If you ever really hate your body, and want to change it to be more comfortable, go talk to Toph. She can help with your voice and stuff. But I think your Uncle might need you?" Zuko could indeed hear their Uncle calling them for the morning rush.

As Sokka left, Zuko went to serve tea and marveled at the change in their life. From hiding to understood in just a day.


End file.
